


The Eternal Rain

by Child0fLight



Category: Original Work
Genre: Emotions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-01-06 22:51:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12220572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Child0fLight/pseuds/Child0fLight
Summary: "I know it's bad and it hurts, but you're not broken."-In which a bunch of sad kids seek comfort in one another because it's so much better than letting themselves drown.-





	1. Prologue

* * *

 

 

It's raining outside today.  
  
Just like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.  
  
For now, it's not a storm. Just a light drizzle. It's sort of nice, in a way. The sound against the glass is comforting background noise in class. Miss Channing's droning is a bit boring, and the pitter-patter is something that makes it a little better.  
  
It rains every day here. Nobody knows why. No one particularly cares, either. It's just rain, and despite the mild inconvenience, it's not all bad. It's kind of comforting to know that our sky is just as emotional as the rest of us.  
  
The teens in the room aren't listening to the lesson, just the rain. It's their own sort of music. It's like every day the sky can play a new song for them all.  
  
The rain makes people sad, though. They have to look out their windows and see the rain. Why no sun? No light? It's depressing, no matter how comforting the rain may be. There aren't many sources of happiness among the children in the classroom. Just like there's no sun outside the window. There is no light, no happiness, no sun.  
  
But what the children never seem to realize is that they can make their own Sun.  
  


> * * *
> 
>   
>    
> 


	2. the kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -
> 
> a brief character introduction??

* * *

"Please, read chapter eleven through thirty tonight, and write a-"

The teacher droned on and on but her voice sounded distant in their ears. As if they were all underwater. How suitable; this lesson _did_ make it feel like they were all drowning.

And as if they all finally broke the surface and gasped for some fresh air, the bell rang, and they all sighed in relief.

"Remember your homework! I'll be checking it on Monday-"

_Sorry, Miss Channing, the classroom's empty, except for one._

Quinn Azai, wearing the proper school uniform as always, left her books on her desk as she strolled up to the teacher's desk. She slapped what looked to be a very in-depth analysis report of something onto the desk.

"Another thing you wanted me to look over, dear?"

"Mm," she grunted, turning on her heel and grabbing her books before she headed to her locker. The short girl accidentally bumped into someone in the hall, someone much, much, taller, and looking to be much, much more stressed.

Oliver Hook, clad in a loose, half-assed presented school uniform and his glasses, awkwardly made his way through the halls, stammering out, "Sorry!"s everytime he bumped into someone. His older brother, William, or rather, "Will", caught up with the younger, but taller, male and playfully punched him on the shoulder.

"Hey, bro-"

"The ratio of how much you address me as 'bro' to my actual name could be considered astounding," Oliver chuckled, eyes somehow both disinterested and fond all at once.

"Hey, _Oli_ , me n' Phoebe are gonna head over to the arcade after school. Wanna join?" the older, light-blue haired boy grinned.

"Speak of the devil," Oliver murmured, seeing as the young lady raced up to them.

"Hey, hey, hey~!" the perky girl cheered, smiling. Phoebe Craine was always very, very happy. Always giggling, smiling, and cheering, no matter the occasion (which was both refreshing and somewhat annoying). Will and Phoebe had been dating since, like, eighth grade or something, which was strange to Oliver because no matter how many issues they had they never could seem to fall _out of_ whatever they'd fallen _into_. Love, or whatever it was called.

"Hi, cutie," Will threw an arm around her and pecked her on the mouth, earning an exaggerated gag from Oliver.

"Get a ROOM, guys," he laughed, "And yeah, I'll see you at the arcade later," he added with a small smile, actually heading to his locker.

As Oliver fiddled with his lock on his locker, the boy a few lockers down sighed dramatically and stuffed in all his books.

Calum Huntrings was just so incredibly sad, it could almost be considered amazing at just how long he could manage to be unhappy. The poor boy, and he was such a sweetheart, too. His beloved twin sister, Anastasia, bounded up to him and jumped on his back.

"YO!" she screeched, launching herself onto her brother who in-turn ended up slamming his face into the lockers in front of him. 

"Anaaaa!" he whined, rubbing his forehead.

A few feet away stood an amused Heather Skmena, violet hair hanging over her eyes. She didn't associate herself with the twins but found their little quarrels amusing. Snorting, she draped her bag over her shoulder and walked out, passing by a rather child-like looking classmate of hers who had cat stickers _everywhere_.

And when I say _everywhere_ , I mean, _everywhere_. 

On her notebooks, her backpack, her hoodie, her bulky boots, her _forehead_ , for god's sake.

Ruth Lockhart loved cats more than anything in life - she would die for cats. She had a cat at home, too, named Clark, and he was the cutest, sweetest little ball of fur she'd ever met. She loved him with all her heart, too.

Ruth often got into arguments with one of the 'local weirdos', Captain (He's actually a cousin of Oliver and Will, making his name 'Captain Hook'. Funny, right?) about what was better; cats or dogs. Neither were sure which one won their arguments.

* * *

All students parted ways, quickly going about their own lonely lives not knowing about the existence of others.

-

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed !!
> 
> ( sorry for the shortness of it )


	3. buses n' giggles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -
> 
> giggles on a bus, cause' kids need it every once ina' while.

* * *

Oliver ran a thin hand through his hair as he boarded his bus, a few minutes early as per usual. He had this irrational anxiety that if he didn't make it to to the bus early than he'd be late; it didn't matter if he made it right on time, it made him angry to not be at least five minutes early. A strange thing about him, he had irrational anxieties about nearly anything, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.

Will had a van that he could get rides in, too, but he never asked him to give him any rides because Oliver liked to feel independent by riding the bus, alone. Also, Will's van smelled like hormones, hair product, and marijuana so it wasn't really the greatest thing to get rides in. 

He lazily gandered out the window, his eyes tracing the gross amount of fingerprints on the window. He always sat in the window seat, and always in the back, no matter who was on with him or where he was going. Well, it's not like he ever really had anyone on with him _anyway_...

Oliver was quite the antisocial guy, you see - his crippling fear of disappointing others didn't serve as something that helped him connect with others. He also had another fear (this could be interpreted as irrational or completely understandable, no one's really sure about it anyway) that he'd bother, or worry, or upset someone with his - _problems_ , you could say.

 _Problems_ as in a rare disorder that he'd had since he was born. Dissociative Fugue Disorder is a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality. Typically, it is when the sufferer is plagued with the inability to recall certain aspects, and sometimes all, of their past, which can result in creating a new identity for themselves, randomly traveling to unknown places without knowing why, or just extreme confusion about who they are.

The 'fugue states' can last from hours to days, to months, to even years. Oliver could be considered "lucky", if you could even call it that - his never lasted much longer than a few days. Oliver hadn't had one in years, either, which was good, but he felt constantly plagued with fear that he'd enter another state and completely lose himself.

So, friendship was difficult with all of this. After all, it was hard to care about others when you found it difficult to care for yourself.

He shook himself from his haze when he heard bickering from outside the bus. He looked out the window and saw a group of kids, who he didn't really like, and a girl he'd seen quite a lot but never spoke to. 

"C'mon, doll, you just-"

"No."

"Don't be so uptight-"

"I'll be 'uptight' as much as I'd like, thank you. Apologies if this offends you, because it's supposed to, but I would never, ever, ever do anything like that for someone like you," the girl growled, blue wisps of hair that fell out of her ponytail falling around her face. She was angry, for someone so small, and definitely scary.

In response, the boy went to push her back, but she grabbed his fist first and dug her nails into the knuckles of his hand. He whined in pain, groaning an, "Ow!" and a few curses before he pulled away.

"Don't touch me," she grumbled, turning on her heel and boarding the bus.

 _Oh god_ , Oliver thought pessimistically, _she's gonna be on the bus?_

It was strange; he'd never seen her on the bus before.

When she got on the bus she seemed even shorter than before, which was quite amazing to Oliver. He suddenly felt very, very tall. He heard her footsteps as she went to the back of the nearly full bus. His eyes darted to every seat she passed by, finding they were all full except for -

_Dear lord._

"Is this seat taken?" she murmured, and suddenly he couldn't breathe. Like, at all.

_Goodbye, life, because there go my lungs._

"N-No," he said, sliding his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

She sat beside him without another word, and for a while, the air between them was tense and Oliver felt like he might die.

"You look quite stressed," she muttered, face holding little emotion. Her eyes, though, had all kinds of things dancing around in them.

"You s-sort of s-scare me," he blurted out, sighing in disappointment of himself before quickly jumping to apologize, "Wait-! I'm sorry, I-"

Suddenly, the girl broke out into a fit of giggles - not laughter, but _giggles_ \- and Oliver felt his shoulders slowly relax, and then tense again.

"Wh-Why're you laughing...?"

" _Because_ you're the only person who's ever _said_ that to me. Everyone's scared of me, _that_ much is obvious, but no one's ever _said_ it before," she chuckled, "Quinn Azai," she stuck out her hand, which Oliver realized was covered in a thick glove.

He shakily shook her hand, "Oliver Hook," he replied. He'd heard 'Quinn Azai' somewhere before...

"W-Wait-! Aren't you the student body president...?" he finally came to his conclusion as to who she was.

"Yes, I am," Quinn nodded.

"No offense, but shouldn't you b-be a bit more friendly if you're student body president?"

"No, what sort of authority is friendly?" she snorted, talking as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "No one will take me seriously if I was friendly."

He shrugged, half-agreeing with her.

"If I looked like you, then perhaps I could afford to, but not with my appearance."

"Wh-What?!"

"You're tall, and sort of intimidating besides the fact you're so meek. I am short and small, and no one takes me seriously until I threaten them," she sighed, and Oliver could've sworn he'd seen a small pout on her face, but if he'd seen it right it disappeared just as quickly as it got there and her face quickly turned back to stone.

"Oh, okay, well-" he paused, and playfully looked offended, "Wait, MEEK?!"

"Yeah, 'meek', you have the confidence level of a baby mouse being attacked by a vulture," she deadpanned.

"I'm so offended... I can't believe this," he sighed melodramatically, grinning slowly as he heard her giggle.

The bus halted to a stop and she stood. "Sorry, Oliver, this is my stop," she saluted him rather than wave, which made him laugh, "G'bye."

"See ya'," he smiled, feeling content with himself for once.

 _A friend_ , he thought to himself silently, _or rather, a very strange and somehow pleasant yet unpleasant acquaintance..._

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> -a


	4. the hook's (well, 2 of em n good ol' Phoebe, at least)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -
> 
> sorta stupid kids doin' sorta stupid things to make themselves feel a lil more free

* * *

 

The bus ride home after Quinn left was rather uneventful, but Oliver didn't mind. The quiet was sort of comforting, in a way, although it was quite lonely. He gazed out the window quietly, seeing people walk home or just looking over the houses. The bus halted to a stop and Oliver stood, awkwardly stepping over the legs of those who didn't care enough to move them. Stepping down the stairs of the bus with heavy steps, he adjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulders and fished his keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door and stepping inside the house.

Yes, a _house_ \- not a home. Or rather, a _foster_ home. Will, Captain (who was really Oliver and Will's cousin, but they loved him like a brother anyway) and Oliver had always been bounced and tossed from house to house. They were older, and Will was going to be eighteen soon anyway, so no one really wanted them. The thought had plagued Oliver's mind since he was young. 

 _Unwanted_.

He pushed the thought away as he pushed himself through the house, trudging up the stairs. Nobody was home, as usual. A note on the counter told Oliver that their 'mother' would be back from work late and if they were hungry there were leftovers in the fridge. Oliver didn't really eat much; he paid the note no mind as he entered his bedroom on the second level of the house.

The boy took off his school uniform with heavy limbs, sighing and shaking his head to get his hair out of his eyes. He pulled on a new outfit, one with dull colors. He didn't have much to wear, ever, and the few outfits he owned all looked rather similar.

Oliver slid on his shoes and grabbed his phone, clicking on his older brother's contact and shooting him a quick text to let him know he was on the way to the arcade before grabbing a jacket (the only one he owned, actually. It wasn't very warm but he made do) and heading out of the house once again. 

He lifted his hood up and winced at the feeling of rain. it was always raining here, no matter the time of day or the day of the week. Oliver didn't think he'd ever seen the sun come out from behind the clouds in this town in the three or four years he'd been living there. His eyes remained trained on the ground; he no longer needed to look up to know where to go. 

Q's arcade was a fun place to hang out, and they had many, many interesting games (Oliver seemed to quite like Galaga, though DDR was quite fun to play when you had a lot of people). Oliver finally looked up when he saw the bright neon sign, full of beautiful bright hues of green and violet. He smiled to himself and pushed open the door, already seeing his older brother with Phoebe clinging to his arm.

"Will, Phoe-"

"Oli, somebody beat your score in Galaga!" Will looked so surprised his expression could be confused with offense.

"Who...?" he murmured, chuckling at his brother's overdramatic nature. Sure, he was a bit disappointed he wasn't at the top, but he could always just beat the top score again-

"They _tripled_ your score, Oli!" Phoebe shouted, equally, if not more, enthusiastic and astounded than the light blue haired boy beside her.

"Tripled? What name were they under."

"'Ghost', but the 'O' was a 'Q'," Will shrugged, "Which is sorta' lame if you ask me." 

Oliver went over to the Galaga game and looked over the high scores, and sure enough, there was a "GHQST" right over "H00K".

"Who is-?"

"My kid," said a voice a little bit behind them. When they turned around they saw a tall and slight man of about thirty, sporting a pair of jeans, a loose-fitting T-shirt, and a grin.

"Hey, don't you own this place?" Will murmured in questioning, thinking he'd seen the man somewhere before.

"Yep!" he smiled. 

"Joey, where did you put-"

A rather short woman with long black hair and pretty blue eyes stood behind him, easily blending in behind the larger man. Oliver blinked, once, twice, and then a third time. The woman looked incredibly familiar to him, and he couldn't quite place it, until...

"Where's your mini-me?"

"Downstairs."

"Writing?"

"Mm, as always," she chuckled, putting something on the counter and then taking something else off.

Quinn! She looked quite a bit like Quinn to Oliver. Just, her hair wasn't blue, and she wasn't as short.

"What's your l-last name, if you don't mind me asking?" Oliver blurted out as the other four chatted.

"Azai," the man answered.

"Do you have a daughter named Quinn, by any chance?"

Will raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a look, which Phoebe mirrored and Oliver shook off.

"Yes!" the woman smiled. "You know her?"

"She has _friends_...?" the man joked.

"Joseph!" the woman punched him and he pouted, murmuring an 'I'm kidding!'.

"Ah, I met her on the bus today..." Oliver explained.

"Yeah, she's supposed to always take the bus but she ends up going off somewhere, usually."

The woman, who Oliver would later know as "Lillian", stared down at her phone as it buzzed. "Speak of the devil," she smirked, "Our child gets her neediness from you," she murmured, walking off somewhere.

"That's not true at _all_...!" Joseph sighed dramatically.

Will wouldn't stop looking at Oliver in that little way that held mischief and something that made Oliver's blood boil; really, it was outstanding that Oliver could put up with the older male.

Lillian came back from wherever she'd been and threw something at Joseph, hitting him in the back. "Ow!"

"Quinn wanted me to do that for her," she shrugged, chuckling, "Sorry."

"She's so mean..." he whined, "She gets that from you, too."

She rolled her eyes, " _Mhmm_. Now, Joey, stop talking to these kids. We have to work." She tugged at his arm and he whined, saying goodbye to the three teens and heading to wherever his wife was taking him.

"So... Quinn?" Will smirked.

Phoebe giggled, "Oli has a giiirrrlllfriend."

"I've met her once, on the bus today. I know nothing about her," he rolled his eyes, the three of them going to actually play games.

"So? Love at first sight!" Phoebe insisted, to which Will nodded in agreement.

"Shut up and come here so I can destroy you," he tutted, gesturing to one of the game machines. Will grinned and stood beside his brother, quickly mashing at buttons and getting lost in their fun.

* * *

A little while later they'd gotten sort of tired of all the button mashing, and Phoebe insisted that the two brothers go head to head in Dance Dance Revolution. 

"I don't like to dance..."

"C'mon, man, it's not even dancing! Just stepping to a beat!"

"Yeah... like dancing."

Oliver glared at Will with fond eyes and stepped onto the machine-game, him and Will picking a fast-paced song, immediately going against each other. Oliver's legs were quite a bit longer, but his steps were awkward, whereas Will had smoother moves and was much more confident. A few minutes in, both were wheezing and laughing so hard they couldn't breathe, Phoebe a giggling mess as she recorded it all. 

Minutes passed by and Will was on the floor, on his knees, dramatically screaming. "NO!"

"YES!" Oliver laughed, "I am victorious!" he got off of the platform, taking heavy breaths.

"Noooooo," Will whined, "Phoebe, c'mere, I'm sad now and I'm in need of the comfort of a woman..." he added with a lopsided grin. Phoebe laughed and immediately complied, chuckling when she heard Oliver make gag sounds.

"Cut it out with the PDA, you're so gross," Oliver tried to say seriously. He failed, and laughed, rolling his eyes fondly.

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!!


	5. blue // blue // bluer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -
> 
> some blue haired girl action 4 once

* * *

 

The three left a little while after that, laughing and joking as always. Oliver felt content, although a little empty.

_This was all he needed._

He pushed the thought away as Will and Phoebe chuckled that he was spacing out and thinking of 'arcade-bus-angry girl' again, to which he rolled his eyes and grunted a short, "Zip it."

A floor below where they had been hanging around lay a terribly lonely girl, gloved hands gripping a pen with such vigor her fingers felt sore.

She was scribbling in some sort of book; a cover of thick brown leather and thin, yellowed pages. Poetry, it seemed.

Quinn had let her hair loose, for once, hair falling in a way that framed her face and drooped over her eyes.

Blue hair, blue eyes, bluer soul, she had titled the poem, scribbling her signature before she shut her book and clicked her pen closed.

She rubbed her thumb over her gloved palm with an expression that could be considered emotionless had it not been for her eyes.

The girl tugged at the shirt collar a bit, sweating despite the cooler weather. She wore layers, always; an undershirt, the school's long sleeve uniform top, and the school's sweater or blazer over that. She never left the house without gloves on, and never left without a pair of thick stockings under her uniform skirt.

She couldn't show her skin, never, ever, ever, not at any time.

_A promise was meant to be kept._

Her fingertips shook as she resisted the urge to pick and scratch at her own skin. Her thoughts were sort of suffocating, in a way; filling her head and her chest and her throat. Numb was what she felt at times like these, but feeling nothing was no better than feeling all of her emotions. She could probably fill a dozen or so books with poems on that.

Quinn wasn't ever calm, really; always angry, or sad. There was never grey, only black and white.

When the blue girl felt things, she felt them. There were no slight feelings, ever; she felt things with such intensity it overwhelmed others. It scared them. And truthfully, it scared her, too.

Lots of things scared her, actually; she didn't like the dark. The dark scared her because it left her feeling unsettled; like there were things she didn't know or couldn't see.

Her fears, and her intense emotions, and her worries had caused a disorder that made her wear all those layers, all the time.

Excoriation disorder is a mental disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused. She'd had it for quite a long while, which was upsetting.

Quinn couldn't quite remember when exactly she'd gotten it, that part of her mind clouded and hazy. It wasn't as if she wanted to remember, though. She worried it'd make her feel worse.

The girl had always been rather talented, too; everything she did she excelled with. Academics, athletics, musical instruments, acting, and even the arts were things she was good at. She knew that, too, but a part of her always wished she could fail at just one thing.

Yes, this probably sounds strange to you, right? When you're so good at certain things, others don't like you as much, and then you're cast aside because of others' jealousy. Maybe if she could fail at one little thing people would find her easier to talk to.

Anger was something she always showed; bitter glares, growls, and grumbles were her main sources of interaction. Those were her instincts, though. She couldn't really control what she did like that, explaining her hotheaded behavior. Poor girl.

That being said, she didn't bother with friendships. They were time-consuming, and friends left you vulnerable. They could stab you in the back, or use your secrets against you. And of course, if she didn't try to make friends, she definitely didn't try to find any sort of romance to take part in. A part of her also was frightened of letting anyone close; the closer they became the more vulnerable you appeared.

Quinn couldn't afford vulnerability. Far too high above her pay grade if you asked her. No time for it. The cold student body president's heart was kept under wraps.

The girl often wondered what her heart would feel like if you could touch it (not really, though, because all hearts would feel the same. They're organs, y'know? She means this metaphorically, and poetically, obviously!). Brittle, and scarred, perhaps. She wondered what it would take to soften it.

Blinking, she grimaced.

Nothing.

Her parents came down the stairs and smiled at her, like always.

"C'mon, kiddo, we have to go home."

"Yeah," she mumbled, grabbing her things and standing. Her mother looked at her with soft eyes, and her father gently rubbed her back.

"School?" Lillian murmured in a questioning tone.

"The same."

"Meet anybody?" Joseph looked down at her.

"Yes, but I don't think he likes me very much," she shrugged. 

"Why?"

"He told me he was scared of me."

"Well, I'm scared of you, and I still like you, so-"

Quinn playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"You're so annoying."

"I know."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed !!
> 
> -a

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> \- a


End file.
